1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to weatherseals, and more specifically to a weatherseal for the window frame of a motor vehicle having a door provided with a windowpane movable between raised and lowered positions relative to the window frame.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A roof rail weatherstrip for a motor vehicle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,751, Koike which issued on Sept. 13, 1977. The disclosed weatherstrip comprises an elongated hollow resiliently deformable member secured to the roof rail. The resiliently deformable member has a web portion and a bridge portion. The bridge portion is so constructed and arranged in a hollow of the resiliently deformable member that when the windowpane is moved to its raised position, the bridge portion is compressed between the roof rail and the windowpane, biasing the web portion against the windowpane. When the door is closed with the windowpane in its raised position, the bridge portion is flexed to keep the web portion in contact with the windowpane.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,785, Wahr et al., which issued on June 26, 1984, discloses a weatherseal for windows adapted to be lowered and raised, such as side windows of a motor vehicle having doors with integral window frames. The weatherseal includes a sealing lip which is displaced in a direction toward the upper outer edge area of the windowpane when the windowpane is raised. At least one bell crank is arranged inside the seal having one leg extending into the sealing lip. When the windowpane is raised, the other leg of the bell crank acts as a pivot for pressing the sealing lip against the upper outer edge area of the windowpane.
It is a disadvantage of the prior art structures that Koike does not provide the positive mechanical action necessary to insure that blowout of a window glass panel does not occur. In Koike, in order to provide a seal that will permit a window to be closed both when the door is open and when the door is closed, the outermost portion of the seal must lie above the plane along which the top of the window travels as it is closed in the fully raised position. The deflection of a necessarily flexible seal from this position to a position below this plane for preventing blowout is only marginally effective.
The structure of Wahr et al. is an attempt to improve on the effectiveness of the Koike structure, but introduces a further problem. Wahr et al.'s structure cannot be used in an automobile that does not have a movable frame surrounding the window glass and carried by the door. Particularly, Wahr et al. is not usable in hardtop convertibles where it is necessary that the door be closeable with the window glass in the raised position. Further, the device of Wahr et al. is complex and expensive and is not suitable for applications where cost is important.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a weatherseal for engaging and restraining the top edge of a windowpane from blowout.
It is another object of this invention to provide a blowout preventing weatherseal that can be used in hardtop convertible vehicles in which the window frame is not carried by the door.